ONLINE REGISTRATION AND FILING OF EXCISE AND SERVICE TAX RETURNS

Theautomationdrive by the country’s excise andservice taxdepartment took another step forward Wednesday with the access toonline registrationand filing of returns made available in the national capital and surrounding regions. ‘The main objective of the automationdrive is to provide an electronic interface with the department that aims to reduce costs, the paperwork, visits to our offices,’ said Sreela Ghosh, chief commissioner of excise andservice taxin the capital.

‘From the government’spoint of view, it increases accountability, the responsiveness, efficiency and also transparency in the indirect tax system,’ Ghosh added at an event here to launch theautomationproject in the Delhi circle.

Officials said theautomationhad become all the more necessary in the wake of revenues shooting up from Rs.1,000 crore for the Delhi Commissionerate five years ago to more than Rs.10,000 now, with the assessed base also rising at the same rate to 140,000.

They said theautomationwill also help when theGoods and Services Taxis introduced from April next year, to make the system simpler by replacing a plethora of levies by the central and state governments.

We feel that the assesses base will increase multi-fold to around 4-5 million with the introduction ofGoods and Services Tax. And ourautomationsystem will come in handy then as well as only some tweaking will be required,’ said Ghosh.

Others participating at the event included S.K. Goel, member of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, D.P. Dash, additional director general, and R.D. Negi, commissioner forservice tax.

They also introduced awebsitefor the Delhi region – www.servicetaxdelhi .gov.in.

In theautomationdrive, several Indian information technologies and telecom majors have been roped in as partners, including Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharat Sanchar Nigam and National Informatics Centre.

They have helped in establishing a wide area network to inter-connect 582 locations. It also offers e-payment option over a network of 21 banks.

‘We have ensured a new, modern system in which problems such as delays in registration, non-processing of refunds, shall be complaints of a bygone era,’ said Goel. ‘The system will also help in collecting and assessing data – which remains the main tool for any tax administration.